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(total cost US$ 2,535,000, requested GEF funding US$ 295,000)
Objectives
(a) To reduce the energy losses in the heat generation system, transmission facilities and end uses and achieve an associated reduction in GHG emissions.
(b) To improve the comfort and living conditions of end users.
(c) To develop a useable billing and metering system to enable the heating companies to charge for heat according a formula based on the actual consumption of the user.
(d) To train in-country experts on implementing progressive methods of planning, management and renovation of existing district heating systems and heating end uses.
(e) To disseminate the lessons learned in Gabrovo to other district heating systems.
Description
30. The state-owned co-generation station consists of six coal/fuel oil fired boilers and steam and steam-to-water heat exchanges that provide heat to the Gabrovo district heating system. The electricity produced is fed into the national electrical grid. Due to old equipment and worn up facilities, the overall efficiency of the district heating system is low, a condition found in similar state- and municipality-owned district heating systems in Bulgaria and other CEE countries. The project will perform a comprehensive energy audit of the district heating plant, the distribution grid, and a representative sample of end user customers to quantify the thermal losses in different stages of the system and identify the optimal mix of technical and managerial measures to improve its overall efficiency and achieve the associated reduction in GHG emissions. A feasibility/pre-investment study will define the existing potential for improving efficiency of the system and the priority steps in the renovation process.
31. In the past, consumers were billed for heat on the basis of the cubic meters of volume heated. This not only provides an inaccurate surrogate measure of consumption, but it also provides no incentive either for the heat distribution company or the consumers to conserve heat. Investments in energy efficiency were discouraged. Over the recent past, district heating companies have allowed for consumers to install meters, and some consumers have done so. However, the link between the meter reading and billing is not always observed as there is no clear formula for the heat tariff. In Gabrovo, some buildings have meters, but their efforts at conservation are not adequately rewarded. District heating companies are still heavily subsidized. A prerequisite for their privatization will be a consumption-based metering system. As part of this demonstration element, a detailed study of consumption-based metering and a detailed formula for a heat tariff will be developed and applied.
32. The highest priority measures will be implemented and their energy- and GHG reduction benefits carefully monitored. Based upon this study and the results of the initial phase of improvements, a comprehensive renovation plan will be prepared that identifies the measures that would be taken based on cost-effectiveness alone and the incremental measures that would achieve additional GHG emission reductions and their associated costs and benefits. A significant part of the project will be to build the management and planning capacity to implement optimal plans based on economic and incremental GHG emission-reduction criteria. The lessons learned in Gabrovo will be disseminated in other municipalities where similar district heating systems are in use and to local industrial heating stations.
Transaction Barriers
(a) Subsidized energy prices do not motivate end users to save energy. As Bulgaria is being required to pay world prices for energy imports, the heat tariffs are being raised. However, the lack of connection between consumers bills and actual consumption provides little incentive to use heat efficiently.
(b) To date, there has been limited use of heat metering and there has been no virtually no application of consumption-based metering throughout the district-heating systems. This reduces incentives to energy conservation on the part of both consumers and heat producers.
(c) Difficulties in measuring the thermal losses in different stages of the heat-delivery system because of a lack of metering, make it impossible to prioritize investments or to quantify the cost of improved efficiencies and the incremental cost of investing in additional GHG emissions reductions.
33. The shortage of experience in the managing and operating district heating systems under market conditions, has led to a lack of familiarity with modern technologies and a lack of experience in fund raising for energy efficiency improvements.
Outcome
(a) A feasibility/pre-investment study on the overall renovation of the Gabrovo district heating system that identifies cost-based improvements and the incremental actions that could produce additional reductions in GHG emissions.
(b) The demonstration of the highest priority energy-saving measures to provide realistic experience in the renovation of the existing district heating system in Gabrovo to add credibility to the estimates in the study.
(c) The introduction of a system of metering and billing based upon actual consumption so that end-users pay for the heat utilized thereby creating to use thermal energy efficiently.
(d) The creation of trained experts capable of providing efficient planning, management and financing of district heating systems, including the conduct of model preventative maintenance programs.
(e) The production of guides and tutorials for achieving energy efficiency and GHG emission reductions, including: (a) manual for energy and environmental planning and (b) manual for efficiency operation and the in-country dissemination of the lessons learned in Gabrovo.
(total cost US .1,719,000; requested GEF funding US$ 261,000)
Objectives
(a) To provide training of key governmental and municipal experts to develop programs for the retrofitting of existing buildings (in connection with subproject 2).
(b) To train experts able to perform energy audits of the existing buildings and to evaluate the energy saving potential of measures and technologies (in connection with subproject 2).
(c) To develop and implement a series of technical and managerial measures to reduce the energy consumption in typical groups of existing residential and service buildings to demonstrate the energy and environmental benefits of such projects.
(d) To assess and demonstrate the potential to use renewable energy sources in retrofitting of existing buildings in Bulgaria.
(e) To disseminate the knowledge and experience accumulated in Gabrovo to other municipalities, use the demonstrations as a background for a national program for retrofitting of buildings, and stimulate the demand for energy efficiency products.
Description
34. Existing buildings in Gabrovo and throughout Bulgaria fail to meet the thermal performance required by current energy costs and environmental standards. Large energy losses occur through building envelopes due to air leakage and insufficient insulation. As a rule, heating systems are not metered, making it impossible to use heating bills to encourage savings or to quantify the benefits of retrofit measures. Under these conditions, the management and control of buildings are neglected. The resulting physical degradation of buildings increases their energy waste and unnecessary GHG emissions.
35. The project will be coordinated with Subproject 2, which will train building energy efficiency specialists. Using these experts, energy audits and retrofit projects will be undertaken at the following four typical building types: (a) hospitals (the regional hospital in Gabrovo), (b) schools (a secondary school in Gabrovo), (c) residences (a multi-story apartment building) and (d) industrial buildings. The hospital retrofit project will be coordinated with the U.S. AID hospital retrofit project to develop an audit and retrofit approach applicable to hospitals throughout the country. A secondary school will be selected, which is representative of school buildings found throughout the country, so that the audit and retrofit approach can be duplicated easily in other schools. An industrial building will be selected that has electric equipment, processing, and lighting energy uses that are similar to those found in industrial buildings throughout Bulgaria.
36. The assessments will identify the measures to increase the heating and other end-use energy efficiency of the buildings, based on both a local cost-recovery criteria and an incremental, global benefit criteria that would produce additional GHG emission reductions and the use of renewable energy measures. The demonstration project will implement some or all of these improvements, carefully monitoring the resulting costs and benefits of both the baseline and incremental improvements.
37. The demonstrations are an important method of educating people and influencing public opinion. An emphasis will be placed on changing the behaviour of owners and occupants of the buildings. For example, in the hospital retrofit demonstration, a computerized energy management system will be installed for optimal control of energy use. In the school automatic heating controls will be introduced that are tuned to the teaching schedule. A system of attractive incentives and entertaining school aids will be developed to encourage teachers and pupils to save energy. For the inhabitants of the residential buildings, guidelines for no-cost and low-cost measures to save energy will be elaborated and disseminated to other municipalities.
38. To ensure that the building retrofit can be duplicated rapidly throughout Bulgaria, the project will be coordinated with Subproject 3 on financing. Through this coordination, different innovative financing alternatives will be considered, including the creation of an Energy Efficiency Fund financed by dedicated local taxes or an international financial institution; a loan guarantee approach with paybacks tied to energy savings; the use of energy service companies (ESCOs); or joint ventures formed by local and foreign companies providing energy-saving products and services.
Transaction Barriers
(a) Difficulty in estimating energy use due to insufficient metering and the difficulty in estimating the expected energy savings of retrofit measures.
(b) The past subsidies for energy prices, which failed to motivate end users to save energy and the difficulty faced in eliminating subsidies--although progress is being made--during a period of economic recession.
(c) The lack of experience in the management and maintenance of buildings to eliminate energy waste, including the lack of information on measures to reduce energy use and a lack of information on financing energy efficiency improvements.
Outcome
(a) A series of model examples of retrofitted typical existing residential and non-residential buildings, including measured information on the costs and benefits of both baseline and incremental measures.
(b) A demonstration of the benefit of a system of incentives to save energy targeted to different building managers and occupants, including housing.
(c) A set of guides and tutorials for energy efficiency and environmental management for typical building types and the in-country dissemination of this information to other municipalities throughout Bulgaria.
Energy Efficiency Improvement of City Street Lighting Systems
Project Management
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